10 Vegan Recipes To Improve Your Muscle Building

So you’re a vegan and you want to build muscle right? You’ve probably heard a thousand variations of the following statement “You can’t build muscle without meat”, but is this actually true? Well, it is more difficult but it is certainly not impossible! But as a vegan you are used to doing things the hard way, that’s the sacrifice you made to follow your personal beliefs.

This article is going to give you ten vegan recipes that you can eat to build muscle. They will range from large meals to small snacks, and will really help you on your fitness journey. All the meals will be healthy and high in protein as this is what is needed to build muscle.

Recipe #1. Three Bean Salad

Beans and legumes are some of the best sources of protein in the vegan diet, so this salad is fantastic for that. It’s high in protein, tastes delicious, and makes a great snack or even a small lunch.

All you need is three types of beans: Kidney Bean, Cannellini Bean (or you can use white kidney bean), and Chickpeas. You can add some diced red onion, celery, cucumber (diced), and some mint. Then you need to make a dressing from lemon juice, olive oil, and some cider vinegar. You can make this as big or small as you want.

Recipe #2. High Protein Hummus

Hummus is another excellent vegan option, it gets its protein from chickpeas and some vegan recipes use hemp seeds to increase that protein further. To make it all you need is a large can of chickpeas, some garlic, half a lemon squeezed, a tablespoon of olive oil, and some tahini. Mix everything into a blender (with hemp seeds if you prefer) and then leave to set in the fridge. You can then serve it with cucumbers, celery and carrots.

Recipe #3. Roasted Chickpeas with Chilli and Garlic

Drain your chickpeas and place them in a bowl, cover in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, some chilli powder, and some garlic powder. Place on a tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, halfway through the cooking process you need to give them a toss so that they cook evenly.

Recipe #4. Roasted Salt and Black Pepper Edamame

This recipe is almost identical to the chickpea recipe above, except instead of chilli and garlic you use sea salt and black pepper, and instead of chickpeas, you use Edamame (obviously). You can also add garlic powder if you want. Roast them for 30 minutes.

Recipe #5. Vegan Jerky

Why let the meat eaters enjoy all the jerky? Here’s a recipe for vegan jerky that uses tofu. The trick with this recipe is to know the difference between dehydrating and cooking. Because we don’t want to cook the tofu.

Using a hard form of tofu, cut it into very thin strips. Flavour it with chilli powder, salt, and garlic, then find a vegan-friendly marinade to leave it in overnight. Place it in a low-temperature oven (less than 250 degrees) for around 4-6 hours. Alternatively, you can just bake it.

Recipe #6. Hemp Protein Smoothie

Hemp protein powder is a fantastic source of protein for vegans, but it doesn’t always taste that nice. But if you try mixing it with banana, raspberry, a tablespoon of peanut butter, some almond milk, and some ice in a blender, you end up with an excellent smoothie.

Recipe #7. Vegan Granola

The beauty of granola is that you can make it any way that you want, but to keep it high protein we are going to use a lot of oats, almonds, cashews, and we’ll add some flax seed too. Then you’ll want to add some coconut oil and some honey to make it a big wet mess. Add in some dried fruit and then spread out on a baking tray. Stick it in the oven for around 15 minutes on a high heat.

Recipe #8. Tempeh Stir Fry

You can also use tofu for this if you prefer, but tempeh works excellently. Add some soy sauce, garlic, and black pepper to a bowl and mix, then place the tempeh in it and leave for 60-90 minutes. Cut up some spring onions, broccoli, peppers, and some ginger. Add the tempeh into a wok or frying pan, add the rest of the vegetables after a couple minutes. You can add some noodles to your meal and cook them through, or serve with cooked rice.

Recipe #9. Three Bean Chilli

Chilli is a great recipe, but without beef mince, it can be difficult to thicken up. Because of this, we are going to double down on the amount of beans used. Just like the three bean salad, we are going to add red kidney beans, cannellini beans, but instead of chickpeas, we are going to use black beans. These are all high protein options.

Add some onions, garlic, brown sugar, chilli powder, canned tomatoes, salt & black pepper to the pan and cook all ingredients for 40-60 minutes. Serve with rice and enjoy.

Recipe #10. Chickpea & Avocado Toast

This last recipe is not only a great breakfast or lunch, it can also make an excellent snack. Toast some bread, while doing so place some chickpeas and an avocado in a bowl and smash them to a pulp. Spread the pulp onto the toast, throw on some chilli flakes, and some black pepper, and eat immediately.

Now you have ten new recipes that you can add to your list, and they are all high protein options that can help you to build muscle. But remember, that without strength training to back it up you won’t be able to build anything! Lift heavy weights at least three times per week, ensure that you eat protein with every meal, sleep well, stay hydrated, and be patient. After 12 weeks you will be surprised at the progress that you’ve made.

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Main image credit: connoisseurusveg.com